SELECT SERVICE

Laura KuhnSome riders who use the M15 bus line wonder if more stops in the East Village should be added to the route. Currently, the bus makes two stops either way in the East Village, one at Houston Street and the other at 14th Street.

One recent evening, Tanya Garrett stood at the corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue counting with frustration the number of M15 select service buses that blew past her as she waited for a local.

“I probably missed the last local bus and now I’m going to wait here forever,” Ms. Garrett said Wednesday as she watched another select bus approach, its blue lights flashing.

“They have a million of those select buses going by,” Ms. Garrett said. “It’s uncalled for.”

Since its launch in October, the M15 select bus service – which runs express routes along First and Second Avenues – has promised riders faster commutes by featuring fewer stops, designated bus-only lanes and a pay-before-boarding system that requires users to purchase tickets prior to getting on at street machines.

But for some customers like Ms. Garrett, who lives four blocks away from the nearest select bus stop, the new service has only made the ride home more difficult.

“The select doesn’t stop at my stop,” she said. “I’m stuck with the local. They need to have more locals running. They don’t need all those select buses. They come back to back and you have to stand here and wait for a local forever.”Read more…

Laura KuhnIsaac Lankin prepares to board the new M15 Select Service. Some riders have complained about the new payment system.

The M15 bus line that runs up First Avenue and down Second Avenue started its Select Service on Sunday with much fanfare from the MTA and an equal degree of anticipation from customers.

But if the early days of the new service are any indication, the new system is a long way from offering the easy use that transit officials predicted.

With the new service, riders now pay fares – using coins or a Metrocard – at street machines. Instead of swiping Metrocards while boarding the bus, riders present receipts to the driver.

The idea is to save time not only by pre-collecting the fares but also by making fewer stops (only two each way in the East Village) and using an express lane.

But the system has already hit a few bumps. Despite the intermittent presence of MTA officials on the street, some riders were having trouble using the machines.

On Sunday, one man, who declined to give his name, had to insert his payment into the machines three times before receiving his receipt, only to realize the bus had left without him at 14th and Second. He stood muttering on the sidewalk while the bus heaved down the street without him.

Other riders were furious about confusing rules regarding transfers. Some worried about stops that had apparently been moved (“They changed my stop,” said one rider, Gwen Trombley, as she stood at First Avenue and 14th Street Tuesday afternoon. “I was waiting at Houston and the stop moved up to Second.”)

And already some riders were trying to figure out a way to manipulate the receipt process, which largely relies on an honor system (as one rider, Syd Lazarus, put it, “This is New York”).

Despite the $150 fine for fare jumpers, riders noted that it would be easy not to pay, especially because they can also enter at the back of the bus. “You just show your receipt,” said another rider, Isaac Lankin, as he waited for the local line at a stop on 14th Street and Second Avenue. “You could keep it for a week.”

Regardless of the complaints, some riders saw parallels between the learning curve for the new system and another new process implemented by the MTA not long ago. “It’s exactly like the Metrocard,” said rider David Lukomnik, a neighborhood resident since the 1960s. “At first everybody was still using change and it would take 20 minutes to get on the bus. But, eventually they all learned.”

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The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards. Read more »